STRANGER: Sean Nelson's insipid piece on the Bali bombings in The Stranger betrays a profoundly arrogant and colonialist attitude on behalf of American "youth" to the rest of the world ["Reason vs. Religion," Oct 24]. It is a sentiment shared by thousands of carefree, yahoo British and Commonwealth backpackers who annually descend on Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent in search of "fun." The point is this: Nobody asked the poor people bombed to death in that Kuta nightclub to come to Indonesia. They simply assumed, by virtue of their "youth," their skin color, and their disposable incomes, that they could board a cheap charter flight and go to somebody else's country to "party" whenever it suited them.

To expend so much mental energy and print dollars fretting, moreover, about how it could easily happen "here," in Pioneer Square, is to betray a startling degree of ignorance about the amassed political, economic, and cultural factors that led to the Bali bombing. It is tantamount to so much Western, metropolitan, twentysomething navel-gazing.

Andrew Storey, via e-mail

SEAN NELSON: I just got done reading "Reason vs. Religion"; what a great piece that was. I believe that many people underestimate the intensity of Islamic fascism and myopically believe that if we as a nation just "mind our own business" and "try and do the right thing," the nails, shards of glass, and flying pieces of brick and concrete will all mysteriously miss us. Because the explosion from a bomb targets everybody, perhaps that method of execution is their most chosen simply because, in their eyes, "How could you fire into the crowd and possibly hit an innocent person?" To them, the non-believers are all guilty and worthy only of death by any means, no matter how savage.

Again, thank you for the great piece.

Jeffrey Wall, via e-mail

STRANGER: Let me again express my thanks to you, Josh, Dan, Tim, and the rest of the team for sticking your necks out and doing everything you could to make this monorail thing happen. I know we had a few differences in opinion, nothing that couldn't be solved with a few knife fights in a dark alley, but that's what democracy's all about.

By the way, if I drunkenly called Dan an asshole at the Cyclops the other evening, I apologize. I would've called him a "little feckless fucker," but that line was already taken by someone way more articulate than me. Hope you all keep writing forever.

Viet Nguyen, Former Deputy Campaign Manager, Rise Above It All/Monorail YES!

STRANGER: Thanks so much for all of the hard work and excellent reporting you've done over the past few years with the monorail. You all have gone far beyond just being the ETC's mouthpiece, giving Seattleites convincing and well-thought-out reasons for voting yes for the monorail.

I would have told this to Tim Keck, Josh Feit, Dan Savage, Amy Jenniges, and Bradley Steinbacher in person at the recent election-night monorail party, but I was too chickenshit to approach them.

Bernie, via e-mail

STRANGER: Josh Feit and the Glee Club team make me proud to live in Seattle and to be a liberal, a Democrat, and a Cap-Hill-ite ["The Stranger's Election Glee Club Endorsements," Oct 31].

The provocative and greatly prescient Glee Club cheat sheet came up all spades this year. Thanks, team, for your incessant, hard-hitting dissection of the issues with smart-assed jocularity which punctures that ubiquitous, lulling ennui.

Michael James Hawk, via e-mail

STRANGER: Lovely article. Seriously--very poetic. But, what does this have to do with Seattle ["Rapid Transit," Oct 31]?

Berlin, the least populous of the five cities profiled, has six times as many inhabitants as the city of Seattle. Mexico City, at 20 million, has 36 times as many. One of the main reasons those places have nice, efficient transit systems is that they are actual cities, with enough people to populate--and require--such systems. Seattle on the other hand is a large, self-important town that wants a shiny new toy train for no viable reason. If you were to consider towns with comparable populations, you'd be looking at places like Nashville, TN, Fresno, CA, and Omaha, NE. There's no metro in Omaha.

I think those funds would be better spent hooking up covered wagons to laid-off dot-commers' SUVs to cart people around. Or better yet, why not buy everyone a bicycle--then Seattle can just be like its Asian counterpart, Beijing.

Anonymous, via e-mail

STRANGER: What sweet schadenfreude; the Dems self-destruct (again!). As I got ready to go to work Wednesday morning (to oppress women and minorities, of course), I looked in the mirror and issued one evil laugh: "BWAAAH-HAH HAH-HAAAH!"

Bruce Hazen (R), via e-mail

DAN SAVAGE: Your "virtuecrats" so often choke on the phrase "pursuit of happiness," you'd think they'd have lost their gag reflex by now ["Well Endowed," Nov 7].

The problem is, they want to be the spiritual and intellectual heirs of the founding fathers, who did all the cool stuff like writing the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, rebelling against tyranny, and so forth. But they're not heirs to Age of Enlightenment deists like Jefferson; rather, their roots go further back to that moral SWAT team known as Puritans. Assigning virtue to God and evil to man, naturally they thought that people pursuing their happiness would be a really bad idea.

Jefferson and his pals had a sunnier view of human nature: To them, "virtue" and "pursuit of happiness" weren't enemies of each other, but more like kissing cousins.

Ed Cosgrove, via e-mail

SANDEEP KAUSHIK: I read with interest your "Radio Risks" story in The Stranger this morning [Nov 7]. I am Dan Restione, the morning drive producer for 710 KIRO, and have been a producer and reporter here for more than 10 years.

Several points about your article:

1. We did not lose any key staff. We lost several reporters and a talk-show host, all of whom have been replaced. I miss my friends and they were excellent people no doubt, but our daily operations have not been disrupted or degraded.

2. The people left here are not the only ones KOMO didn't want. More people were offered jobs at KOMO--with astronomical salaries--and turned them down.

3. As for skirmishing, we have beaten KOMO on every field so far. We've broken more news and continue to offer MORE news than they do every day. A random count last week showed we did more than twice the number of stories, locally and nationally.

4. While disputes between the rank and file and management are no big news, here in the morning our morale is very high. I have seen dark times here, and the statement that the loss of the Mariners was our "September 11" is a great sound bite--it just ain't so. We kick ass and continue to do so.

In the end, my view from the trenches is we will continue to do the great job we always have, and most of us are glad KOMO showed up. It meant higher salaries for some of us and an increased commitment to stay on top of our game.

Dan Restione, via e-mail

KATHLEEN WILSON: My name is Tristan McKay, and I play in the Vells. I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your continued support of our music.

It is exciting to play in Seattle right now. It seems there are a lot of fantastic talents coming up in the musical community, and if it weren't for the exposure you give to people, it would be a longer road to travel to reach new audiences as a new band. Your passion for music is apparent, and your opinions often guide the tastes of those less adventurous (but no less important) music fans.

Thanks again. Keep fighting the good fight.

Tristan McKay, via e-mail